What Did Starlight Do To Her Face

Introduction

Starlight is such an unusual character in the universe of the Boys that a study focusing on her is oddly fitting. In her nearly decade-long existence, half of her original facial structure has been replaced by variable pieces of other people. In short, she wears their faces sometimes. It is relatively uncommon to see the same character transform so many times without genuinely changing their self-identity as well. The fact that Starlight’s face can undergo such a radical transformation also serves as a reflection of ongoing and important conversations about visual identity in modern media, especially in conversation with her show audience. Stilwell’s continual transformation in synergy with changes to her actress’s appearance encourages a kind of active fan speculation and sense of following and building a character in real time that has really only become possible in the era of social media.

This essay begins from the position that it is important to study the visual parts of storytelling in the same capacity as story or character alone. Film remains an incredibly powerful medium for storytelling, and the act of consuming and interpreting narrative is filled with questions often easily translated to film: Starlight’s transformation in appearance is unique, but adaptations of characters from comic to screen to various illustrated forms have become relatively common. Just as Stilwell meets an increasing variety of fans, being moved from comic to TV, Abbey Lee’s version of Stilwell must meet fan expectations and the reality of not only her actress and show portrayals, but also the four faces of Starlight—the actress’s ‘real life’ face, the plastic face presented to most characters in the show, her unadorned real face late in season 2, and the superhero-appropriate look crafted with careful plastic surgery in the final seconds.

Background of the Character Starlight

Starlight is a character in the multimedia franchise The Metas: Guardians Oriana, whose fandom doubles as the center of gameplay for the role-playing game Oriana’s Path and the title of the television series that chronicles the characters behind the scenes. In the series’ fan-originating lore, she is Oriana’s assistant and the most prominent among the show’s ensemble cast of characters. Starlight has no powers of her own, but she is portrayed as smart, strong, empathetic, and cunning. She constantly ties up Oriana’s loose threads and wears a necklace that allows for secret communications with humanity’s last generation of technomancy users. She is determined to do whatever it takes to see that her princess’s show finishes with a beautiful ending. The series introduced Starlight in the opening scene of the pilot at a press conference that sends Oriana on the adventure that sets in motion Starlight’s narrative arc on the series. In the universe of the pilot, Starlight had masqueraded as an efficiency expert and the deputy assistant to Oriana during the closed doors casting portion of the creation of The Metas television and game multimedia franchise. Starlight auditioned to be in the competition herself at the behest of her girlfriend. Starlight saw casting director Hilary Reed coercing Oriana into signing a binding non-compete contract and to prove whose side had lived on, Oriana cast Starlight as her loyal assistant. Starlight had planned to collide into the competition and become a sleeper agent within the show for a different sponsored team. During the casting period and Oriana’s first world adventure, she became hopelessly devoted to Oriana.

The Evolution of Starlight’s Appearance

When analyzing the evolution of the character’s appearance, it is noteworthy that Starlight first appeared in the pages of comics before being popularized by the television show. Though Starlight’s comic version was influenced by various real-world pop stars, her original comic hero outfit bears little in common with the actress’s appearance. The most overt changes in Starlight’s design occur with the shift to the television adaptation where she is fleshed out as a series regular. Yet, her comic-to-television transformation is more subtle than most on-screen adaptations, and this is particularly ironic considering the rivalry between the comic and television industries on the show. During the transition, Starlight’s physical features are adapted to fit the actress portraying her, but her overall appearance remains true to her originally heavily stylized design.

At The Seven’s annual public film release night, Starlight and the rest of the team wear both on-screen and off-screen outfits in a parade of metatext and parody. The crowd also visually parodies the inherent racism and classism in Hollywood’s costume design as their shirts campaign in vain for more diverse costuming. In the series, the Starlight outfit undergoes several adjustments. Most notably, when she reintegrates with The Seven, her reinstatement outfit is given long gloves and tall boots similar to those of her co-star, further separating her from her small-time street-level hero look. Her third outfit for the final episode is a merger of the first two, but more stylized with winged four-point stars worn on her chest and around her waist. Her makeup, while typical of contemporary beauty standards, such as wing-tipped eyeliner, long eyelashes, and red lipstick, is not particularly stylized or cartoonish, contrasting with the rest of the series’ exaggerated makeup present on the on-screen superheroes. Her hair color has been consistent across all platforms; however, only in the television series is it given a diegetic explanation. In the comics, her white-blonde hair is not commented on, while in the new version of the character, her blonde hair only appears when Vought starts to manufacture her look, turning her brown roots blonde.

Initial Depiction in Comics

Initially depicted in a comic book format, Starlight was conceptualized by a screenwriter and adapted to the comic medium by artists. This Starlight had visual traits of the time; rendered in an anime/manga-inspired penciling style, she had characteristic cartoon-style attire and lived in a super city, a hyper-real, ultra-modern world existing in an archetypical hyper reality that unfolded in a fictional setting, unencumbered by the weight of the real and real facts or precedents. The comic was praised by publishers for its pantheon of gore, sex, and political intrigue. Flashbacks through the eyes of Starlight reveal her informal past and wild streak: she is shown in several partying or brawling escapades, skinny-dipping, kissing other women, being accidentally tripped into a dance club mosh pit, and being on stage at a rock concert, wrapped in and swinging the lead singer’s mic cord, each incident showing her in a roguish, impish, and slightly devil-may-care pose. These images establish that when Starlight was first incorporated into the story, her face and costume were set against the background of a hyper-real world of the fantastical, sexy, and politically opportunistic.

Through its tale of the meandering protagonist, during this time the work was regarded as suited for young men who had been captivated by graphic and unapologetic brutality. When it came to characters, women who exceeded the superhuman beauty standards while still being breakable, all too human elements in the plot were considered excellently marketable characters. This caricature of Starlight received much the same fan evaluation, if not more, having been called “arguably the coolest looking Star-Spangled woman ever to be seen.” One critic approved: “Starlight’s new design is taking on a life of its own…this is a great Starlight.” For the producer, the moving pictures of Starlight’s face drew her in, to which something of a refreshed appeal forms: that face is rendered to stay incalculably readable, even when infected. Were her sight to bear the threat of danger or general hostility, the effects of the face’s infection might run turncoat.

The Portrayal of Starlight in Adaptations

Despite a fewer number of appearances in adaptations of The Seven or The Boys as a whole, Starlight’s appearances in the television series and film formats have evolved to tell her story across different venues of entertainment. The creators of these projects were not concerned with how Starlight appeared in the comics but explored different facets of her character to continuously bring responses from around the world. In comic books, Starlight is the first character to appear in The Boys before being remolded into a strong and active character. Her portrayal as a superhero depicted in the television series twice and the film adaptation begins with her initial relationship to America in service of the Soldiers of Victory and holds no music career. The faithfulness of these portrayed adaptations is evident in Starlight’s look, not just her backstory.

Adaptations attempt to maintain fidelity to an original work, whether it is its sexuality or its character journey. This latter category may trace back to origins that are decades old and thus not even relevant to diverse audiences. Starlight, in particular, is just that kind of character to also involve an interpretation of being a bona fide Latina. The goals for this section are several. One of the most radiosensitive topics for comic book fans pertains to the reliance on adapting superhero cosplay for what a mainstream audience would be interested in watching. At the same time, Starlight provides a remarkable case for analyzing the media value of comic-to-film/television adaptations in an age where the print superhero entertainment industry occupies a lower cultural status than it ever has. As such, Starlight stands as the juncture of appealing to comic book fans and non-fans alike. This chapter aims to explain why these separate character interpretation endeavors are necessary for and help people enjoy the use of these characters in adaptations.

Television Series and Movies

Makoto Shinkai’s Kimi no Na wa/Your Name and Starlight Revue give us television series and movies. Arguably, their message and themes are similar since they came from the same creator’s vision and direction. However, the visual storytelling of TV series and movies gives us different interpretations of each character, storyline depth, and the message they convey to the audience. Compared to the TV series, especially the three Budokan chapters at the end of the movie, I see the stage play from the TV series revival debates the cultural significance of Tendou Maya’s portrayal of Starlight Hikari more profoundly by presenting her as “transgressor,” “conqueror,” and “cured.” She is a temporary resident of the TV series or the Mental Kingdom, and this state becomes her ultimate victory.

In the movie, we can classify it as a “remediated compilation” of the TV series discussions about Tendou, dropped from the arguments between Maya and Karen and reinstated by the later versions of Karen and Hikari. Furthermore, the relationship between Karen and Hikari in the film and the TV series version is completely different, as the filmmakers pointed out. “Though the characters and the basic storytelling are the same, the relationship between characters changes. Karen’s first fateful encounter with Hikari is depicted with greater depth and wider implications than in the TV anime, and new scenes have been created to deepen Hikari’s past. It reveals afresh the rich and multifaceted world of Kurobara Musical’s mental landscape.” In the TV series revival, the detail of their relationship between Hikari’s reincarnations is also absent. Therefore, I can thus draw out the details from the translation. The fans’ responses to the character changes of Your Name’s Hikari continue in that of the international release of Revue Starlight and in the Japanese stage performance earlier.

The Impact of Starlight’s Transformation on Fans

Try and never be afraid to innovate – let me know what you think about this one!

Fan responses to the evolution of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic’s ‘the one and only’ GlimGlam from villain to ‘villain’ are fascinating. The negative reactions to a character breaking gendered and/or sexual norms remind us that character studies which try to ignore their evolving designs are reductive. What people say about characters often concerns the psychological, emotional, and social attitudes people bring to bodies as cultural artifacts, and vice versa. Some fans expressed personal feelings of loss, fearing that ‘big-eyed’ Starlight lacks ‘character’, and that her full-bodied cries regarding difficulties of ‘fitting in’ ring hollow compared to her squinty-eyed demeanor. Many even view it as a betrayal of the show and/or intrepid analysis. Such fans sought ‘closure’ through dealing with the issues in non-pony spaces.

That said, the thing many fans missed the most about old Starlight was her role as a Big Bad. One fan describes being very disappointed when the show failed to make her into their conception of a trilogy. For them, that would have been the better use of her construction, while Starlight’s transformation is now merely a ‘waste of potential’. Conversely, another found Starlight’s backstory to be more engaging than her as an outright menace. Their idea for continuing her story arc in a new light? Peace, love, and other child-friendly post-hippie communisms: ‘I think we could have still gone European’. Some have wished that Starlight herself could have matured to become even more Equestrian, carrying one step further the evolution brought about by Everlasting Harmony. They see a transformative potential within Starlight herself. For many fans, including in communities not of American boys aged 14-30, the drama of Starlight began to be about the loss of drama unique to new characters. This is, in large part, because she didn’t stay as she was. For example, while popular reaction to Trixie’s increasing character relevance is generally positive, interest is lost with her to the extent that she stops serving as a foil to ‘the mane ten and their development’. Due to her narrative relevance decline after ‘Magic Duel’, Trixie lacks the ‘gravitas’ she once had – a disappointment only occurring because of the value fans assigned it.

Fan Reactions

Merchandising would not contribute to a transformation’s source material, and the convention and social media appearances give an inherently skewed perspective, as people who can afford to attend conventions and who feel comfortable or safe using social media can be influenced by those platforms to have unrealistic or exclusionary reaction points. Based on fan art interpretations, at least one person was inspired to nominate her for a fan award; negatively, specific to Drawing of the Sun, facial structure. Between that mockup and Our Town revival, in The Cutie Re-mark II, she was redesigned along the lines of City Hall. There is some contention that she remained similar enough to the prior design that some people suspect the difference may have been a result of different animators between the “improved” and “City Hall” models. Starlight’s design is often discussed alongside other transformations. Six specific components cause disappointment for many: Starlight’s tail; her poofy mane; her left eye’s eyelashes; the obviousness that this character is acting within the universe; the inconsistency between name value and character; her paint does not match the concept art.

Ethical Considerations in Altering Character Appearance

As with every other change to character appearances discussed here, any modifications made to introduce a more diverse cast to the series would inherently carry a complex set of ethical concerns. In today’s world of media and media criticism, representation is a hot topic full of heated debate on a near-daily basis. We cannot help but ask: what is our responsibility as creators, as viewers, as commentators, as people? How much should creators bend to appeal to their audience, and how much does it risk alienating the audience it may stand to harm? On a higher ethical note, how does the nature of building characters show up in a reflection of the world outside? Is there inherent wrong in simplifying distinct or subtle features, which make a character who they are? Is refusing to make that distinction equally as harmful?

Think back to our case study for a moment; why else did the state of Starlight’s visage drive such a deep-rooted conversation on character art? By conquering centuries-old anti-miscegenation laws, my reasoning went, we have simultaneously pummeled the marginalization that created a need for artists to prove Starlight’s truth. We’ve entered a time where we are ready to believe that a multi-ethnic person can be white; perhaps at the beginning, we could not. These were the threads informing this entire conversation from day one, when someone’s honest interest in a cartoon face morphed into mass controversy. I have a dream, and it is that cartoon characters may become more and more fairly created from the start. Prejudices and misunderstandings can lead to important and illuminating conversations. We must always be vigilant to undertake the conversation and willingly deliver a tale that few can teleport away from.

Representation and Diversity

Representation and diversity. At first blush, Starlight’s plastic surgery seems like a nothingburger – who cares if fictional characters change their appearances? But, when we dig deeper, we see that Starlight’s body modifications are indicative of some very broad and paradoxical cultural messages we’re trying to convey. The large number of images of Starlight in different costumes and with different body types underlines the reality that visual representation – who we do and do not see – sends a coded message about who is and is not sympathetic, interesting, and worth thinking about. It also suggests that how people look has a big effect on how we feel about them and/or imagine their lives and, by extension, how we feel about ourselves. Representation and empathy are knotted together in complex ways.

The choices creators make about how to depict characters affect how readers and viewers identify with them. However, art is also a space where creators push boundaries and craft visions about what might be possible that are deeply felt and important to them. Who, then, “deserves” visual depiction in stories? We have to accept that people who create visual media are not going to choose only to depict people who look in ways that can fulfill our broad and often incoherent mandates for fair representation. We have to accept that people are also going to depict unsavory characters; they’re going to depict people with all kinds of traits that tempt us to think negatively of them. They’re definitely not always going to depict people looking positive and attractive in human-historical ways. Should we regulate that, then? Furthermore, producers and fans can’t and don’t always agree about which kinds of representation are hostile toward which representation of whom and for what reasons. Since representation is often where cultural imagination and stereotype live, the visual depiction choices fans and consumers often imagine are often deeply charged with political valences and potential for protest.

Conclusion and Future Directions

CONCLUSION

This essay has provided a critical analysis of the contemporary transformation of Starlight’s face in The Boys. The transformation of Starlight, a central character in the story, demonstrates that we should extend character transformation analyses to their physical appearances and not just their psychological backgrounds and moral development. In addition, as demonstrated in this essay, we should pay increased attention to characters who are women and representations of femininity. While Starlight’s initial Hollywood glamour made her the stereotypical 1940s blockbuster blue-eyed blonde, the character’s increased physicality and naturalness have made her less of a fantasy stereotype of femininity and more transparently real. The character’s reimagined face has also turned her from an anonymous star into a ‘real somebody’ with a visual individuation that evokes transgender authenticity. By the same measure, this essay has established that The Boys’ stark dismemberment of the female body in contrast to the male expresses both real-world misogynist sexism and the sexist ideologies of the text.

Such developments make Starlight a more relatable character compared to her initial stereotyping as ‘an everygirl’. Scholars should now study the links between those character transformations and audience responses. It is important to know how the ‘ordinary’ or ‘extraordinary’ Starlight has been perceived. Finally, it is clear that we are on a journey with Starlight and there is no end to the transformations of her character. This essay explored one central dimension of her character, her star face. We have yet to explore, for example, the deeper dimensions of her transformation into a hero. Additionally, while she has become a different woman, she is still, as of the writing of this essay, the same character within a series based on a comic book that is still in print. Furthermore, with our multiverse TV series, there is vast potential for a future reimagining of Starlight and, if this particular series is renewed, future adaptations of The Boys will draw on this essay’s insights for their portrayal of the character.

Moving forward, scholars must address the ethical issues associated with our TV series and movies’ preoccupation with revising female protagonists’ faces. These characters’ disfigurements, while explored ethically in various documentaries, have not been satisfactorily problematized in existing film scholarship. Because the issue is more prominent in our contemporary social, cultural, and political context, the time is indeed right to consider the ethical, particularly feminist perspective further.